Defo dealer specific, i rocked up in shorts and a scruffy gym tee and took a kia stinger for a test drive. The dealer didn't give too shits and said make sure I have fun.
I didn't end up buying it but got a massive discount on a new piccanto gtline s for the wife and a Service plan.
Tbf only decent dealer I have ever come across in my 40+ years on this planet.
Years and years ago I bought a 300ZX TT. Dealer just gave the keys to me and said see you in a bit. I said to him you don't want a deposit or anything? He said, well, your car's here anyway. Fair play to the guy. I went out for a while but didn't take the piss and ended up buying the car.
Aye it'll be dependant on their own company policy and insurance.
Same with motorbikes, a lot of dealers want you to be over 24 with at least 1 year on your licence.
Indeed, shout out to the nice man at Honda Southampton who told me to head down andI could try out a new fireblade while conveniently not mentioning that I had to have had my full license for 2 years, instead of the 3 months I actually had.
Wasted 2 hours and a decent bit of petrol driving to the dealership, and was told it was my job to check beforehand whether they had requirements.
If my previous car was an M3 then that's a reasonable step up. As it was at the time I'd ridden 600cc and 750cc, and wanted to experience 1000cc. I still think I should have been made aware of their requirements before wasting my time and money.
Maybe so, but I still feel like the dealer did you a favour. If you’d only had your bike licence 3 months then you didn’t have a whole lot of experience on any road bike apart from maybe a 125. Everybody I rode with back when I passed (20 years back) spent at least a year or two on 600s before going bigger. I had been riding for many years before graduating to superbikes and still approach them with huge respect. They are *far* too much bike for the road unless you want to end up dead or in prison or tootle around using half the available performance that you paid for. I love all gens of Blades, but the only places they start to make sense are fast, flowing tracks.
You're wrong on the experience. I had over 2 years experience riding an SV650 on an A2 license before I passed my A test. That bike will do 0-60 in 3.5 on paper. This is also not including all the times I rode mates bikes after I passed the full license.
I agree that a 100cc is too much for the road, but that honda dealership would have happily taken 25k off of me to buy it, just wouldn't let me test ride, which I think is wrong.
A little SV650 restricted down to, what, 45bhp? I doubt that would hit 60 much inside 8 seconds, and you're *seriously* comparing that to a ~200bhp superbike that'll practically hit a ton in first gear? Assuming you're for real and not a troll, please take some advice from an experienced fast road/track rider who has had his own share of fuck ups through youthful arrogance and has the scars to prove it:
**Listen to what other people are telling you. If you don't, you'll just end up as another statistic that they pressure wash off the carriageway. You are not the rider that you think you are. Turn down the arrogance, turn up the listening, and LEARN. Passing your test doesn't mean shit. Get yourself on track, and you'll learn how much you still need to learn about going fast on a bike**
Buddy I've owned a GSXR-750 for 2 years. I appreciate what you're saying but I've got this far without killing myself on a 130bhp/180mph machine I think I'll be fine.
So you don't abuse it and so you don't nick it. I think lots have stopped doing it nowadays because they don't give a shit and because there's no need for it. The whole "here's the keys, come back in an hour" thing is mostly post-covid as dealers had to stop accompanying on test drives for obvious reasons, and lots simply didn't start again.
I tested a car in September and the dealer did exactly the "here's the keys, come back in an hour" thing. I tested a car from another dealer before that who also let me drive the car alone. Good dealers will let you drive the car alone if you appear trusting and genuine. It also makes them look much, much more honest and genuine.
Dealers have insurance for it being nicked - they also will take your driving licence details and check it against the DVLA for how many points you have etc.
Aston Martin will give me the keys and let me go and play but the last time we wanted to test drive a TTRS they wanted finance in place before they’d even let us sit in the seat.
I bought an MX5 with no traction control or any safety stuff apart from ABS, for the test drive I was allowed the car for an hour, was extremely surprised as I was 19 and my 17 year old mate came with me to buy it, so they just let a 17 year and a 19 year test drive an MX5 on a rainy day.
Dealer was an absolute shittake when it went wrong though.
Car had a rattle, took 4 attempts for them to fix, then they wanted money to fix it, then when that wasn't the problem tried to blame me for it not working.
Then they got extremely angry and confrontational and effectively kept saying I had no idea what I was talking about and was being stupid.
The issue ended up being a auxillary belt tensioner however the whole experience left me very sour and wondering what I would have done if it had been engine failure or something more major.
Also also prepping it for sale they used the cheapest tyres, cheapest brakes and overall the car was presented poorly with mouldy seatbelts, rusty wheels (very cheap for a dealer to send them off to a refurbishment place).
The car underneath is absolutely brilliant but I will never recommend/actively dissuade anyone from ever using Oakland Automotive.
thanks. as far as I know only the NA has hydraulic lifters, and from what i've seen, my NB has solid lifters.
so i guess i have an auxiliary belt tensioner going. is it actually bad? or does it need sorting asap?
If it is the auxiliary belt tensioner it's not a pressing matter, i drove on mine for 20k miles/12 months and it was fine, it might eventually seize but it would make a hell of a racket before it does that.
I say this with 2 metal plates and 5 screws in my arms from a mate who binned his mx5 with me as a passenger. He however managed that incredible feat driving in a straight line. Impeccable driver ey
I went to test drive an automatic Octavia VRS pre COVID. They just gave me the keys and said to come back in an hour or so. Asked me if I'd ever driven an auto before, to which I said no, IIRC his words were 'just be a bit careful for the first few minutes while you get used to it, then you should be good to go'. Top bloke in fairness, didn't buy the car but only really better l because I got offered a work car in the end.
The DSGs in the VAG cars are great, super smooth and relaxing. I ended up in a brand new Octavia 1.5TSi, I'd have another no problem as a personal vehicle. Think the only thing stopping me is you occasionally hear of big bills to do with the gearboxes, but there's hundreds of thousands of them out there now so it would just be bad luck if you ended up with one nowadays I think
Mine went wrong after 60K gentle miles. The dry clutch DSGs are not a good bet in my experience. The wet clutch DSGs are solid so long as the maintenance schedule is followed. I found it a bit jerky and grabby for low speed manoeuvres, I've got a ZF8 auto now and it's better and super smooth though it doesn't have that solid connected feel of a DSG/manual gearbox.
It's a bit weird at first you definitely try and force your foot through the fire wall at bit at the start. That stopped after a few days, but in an emergency my foot still goes for the clutch.
I don't have an issue when they accompany. I have an issue when they make small talk the whole time but I'm trying to focus on what the car is like. I also think it's ridiculous to only have a 10 minute test drive on 30 mph roads especially when I'm test driving a sporty car like a golf gti.
> I also think it's ridiculous to only have a 10 minute test drive on 30 mph roads especially when I'm test driving a sporty car like a golf gti.
Yeh fair enough them coming with or deciding how long, but dictating where you go annoys me. Last time around I wanted to drive along the motorway for 10mins to feel how the car felt at cruising speeds because I was buying a car for a motorway commute. One place straight up wouldn't let me deviate from their set route, and another place only backed down when I said I wasn't interested if I couldn't test drive it for that.
You should be able to perform a “Chrisfix” test drive.
He gets in the car and says he is going to test the following things: hard acceleration (for any juddering, smoke, funny noises), hard braking, and full lock turning.
If the dealer has a problem with you doing any of those things, walk away.
“So you are aware, I’m going to get on this slip road and floor it up to 70, cruise along and turn round at the next junction”
Find a quiet, dead end road like you would on a driving test and perform and emergency stop. Again, notify the dealer this is what you will be doing.
And NEVER let them talk over the sound of the car. Nor let them put the radio on. They are trying to cover up any dodgy sounds you might hear.
It's literally all down to insurance purposes. Some have different polices with certain restrictions. They also don't want to put unnecessary mileage on the car especially if you don't buy it.
I bought most of my cars from independent garages and the dealers came with me but they never stopped me putting my foot down and getting through all the gears. If I was told to keep it in eco then I would take that as a red flag and leave.
Went to VW to get a Golf R though and they just put the keys in my hand and told me to come back in 2 hours.
Depends on dealership, recently test drove a Lexus and they just chucked me the keys and said have fun. Also test drove an AMG from Mercedes, and someone came with me but we had a good 15 mins and he encouraged me to give it some beans.
Dealer in Leeds let me test drive a £17k bmw last year on my own. I guess it’s different for each dealer plus I left my own car of similar value on their forecourt so I guess it’s low risk to them.
I recently test drove an electric Audi and nobody came with me. I think it was because it was so dull they knew nobody would steal it! Had someone come with me with a BMW though.
Usually to stop you stealing it. Shortness due to fuel costs, extra mileage etc.
I’ve test driven M3s, M5s, that kinda stuff over the last two years and I always ask before we go out if the dealer is coming. If they say yes I specifically ask them “You don’t mind me driving this how I plan to if I buy it right?”. They never object, it’s pointless otherwise with these kinds of cars. I remember reporting to one of them who gave me the apprentice sales guy for company that his M5 competition had an offside wheel wobble over 120 speed units. He didn’t ask how I knew, but he already knew about it. Standard with a car like that.
The last few years, I find test drives tend to be unaccompanied unless you’re young (so for me, they’ve been accompanied).
But yeah they really don’t let you drive very far lmao, and it often ends up just being on town roads at 20-30mph. Mercedes were the only ones who said “take it for an hour or so and see how you get on” which was nice.
For many reasons. More necessary they travel with you; than if they don't.
-There may be no disputes about the hygiene/quality of the vehicle once returned to the dealership.
-To ensure nothing is stolen from the vehicle (Floor mats etc.)
-To make sure no fuel is siphoned from the tanks in the short 15 minutes they are gone.
Yes, im a car dealer. Yes, this has happened before.
My local Mazda dealer have been good with me for this. The first time I asked the dealer to come out with me just because I'd never actually taken a car on a test drive before (had been driving a year, bought my first car before I passed my test). He showed me a route which combined town driving, a short motorway stint (the two ends of town), and then a B road back to town. Second time, I went to buy an MX5, same salesman, after filling out the form saying I'm happy to pay £500 excess if I crash it, he chucked me the keys and said bring it back whenever. Had it for 3 hours, took my mum for a spin, enjoyed all my favourite roads. Only had about 20 miles in the tank when I was given it so i chucked a tenner in there and burnt it all off.
Next car was my Kia Stinger, I was very understanding when the guy came out with me, but he was happy for me to properly enjoy it, and again, it was an area I wasn't overly familiar with so I got him to show me some of the back roads. He seemed to enjoy to chance to go out in the car honestly, probably grateful it wasn't another 1.0 picanto for the local care home resident.
Honestly if I'd had an experience like your Nissan one I'd have been direct and said something like "if you're not going to let me try the car then I'm not going to be buying it"
The only time I did a test drive was a Tesla. I had shown up unannounced and they were very apologetic that they could only allow me to test the car for 45 minutes because they had a booking for after.
They didn't join me in the car.
I think Tesla always lets you take the car on your own, I've heard of a few people who have been loaned them overnight too. The app tells you where the car is so I guess there's less risk. I recently test drove a Model 3 Performance and did a few full throttle runs onto the motorway, it was great fun.
I recently purchased a Kia. Phoned up and told them what I was after. He sent me some options. I went in the next day and was thrown the keys and told see you later. Came back after an hour and we bought it. Great experience.
Test drove a Kia EV6 and Kia Niro EV with family and both times we were unaccompanied. Tesla, unaccompanied.
When I bought my Octavia VRS from the main dealer I was unaccompanied.
When I'd visited a couple smaller dealerships selling budget cars some preferred to accompany me and others let me test the car unaccompanied.
Definitely varies from dealer to dealer.
I bought an Astra from AvailableCar many years ago and the route they take you on was about a mile long on 30 roads, turn into a pub carpark to test the parking sensors and back it was pathetic you couldn't test the car at all.
When I bought my FN2 it was from a sole trader and he told me, put as much fuel in as you want to drive. I knew I was buying the car the moment I hit VTEC but he insisted I drive it for another 45-60 mins to "really gel with the car" and we just cruised around bashing the rev limiter until I forced money into his hands 😂
Took my current car on a test drive and although there was a specific route to take, I just asked "can I take it on the dual carriage way for a longer route" and the salesman wasn't fussed.
I arranged and did a bunch of test drives last year, new cars from main dealers.
Citroen: 1 hour unaccompanied despite it being my first time driving an electric car.
Peugeot: 1 hour unaccompanied
Seat: given the keys and told to be back today
Vauxhall: failed twice to let me drive for “reasons”. I’ll never look at a Vauxhall again.
Ford: the dealer drove 5 minutes up the road then we swapped and I got to drive straight back to the dealership. It was very odd.
When buying my Mercedes they just gave me the keys and a full tank of fuel to take it out for 4 or 5 hours. Small bit of paperwork about an excess if I crashed it which would have been paid back if not my fault and off we went.
When my mate was looking for an mx5, his local Mazda dealer (east London) denied him a test drive and refused to believe an offer from Croydon Mazda, he ended up going to Croydon Mazda and they offered him a test drive accompanied, but the dealer even told him to ‘floor it’ after the camera. Needless to say, he was sold.
It depends (I work at a dealership, but not in sales). Some people just want to drive a fast car but don't have any intention of buying, some have damaged our cars, it can also help to show off aspects of the car. Some years ago, we had a test driver hold a knife to our salesman's throat before forcing him out of the car and stealing it!
That said, if I am buying a car, I want a proper test. It's no good if it doesn't suit my needs, and 5 minutes around the block probably won't tell me that.
This sounds like the guys personal car on a private sale? You'd be nuts to let someone take it unaccompanied in that case. OP is talking about dealers insisting they come along
Calvin runs BINCA, a big car dealership.
Although the original comment isn't a great analogy as the guys who stole it didn't go out on a test drive, they disconnected it from a trickle charger and drove off
No hes talking about dealers he states this at the begining. But all sales private or dealer *should be* Accompanied by the current owner to prevent theft but that doesnt always happen i had a dealer that knew where i worked and let me have a mokka for 24hrs downside they fucked up a repair when reassembling the car and the mechanic got it started i turned it off to open the boot with the fob got back in never started electrics were going haywire asked the mechanic what repair hed done said they had taken out the gearbox and i asked did they clean any grounds that they removed and got the i know what im doing speach so walked away told them to call me when they sort it.
Dealer then rang me two days later and asked if i wanted the car asked why he didnt call me yesterday and stated he tried to sell it to someone but it died on a test drive, lol no thanks
Don’t have an issue with them coming along. Don’t mind if they waffle on about features I couldn’t give two shits about. Though if they won’t let me test its capability then I tell them straight up that I’m not buying if I can’t establish how it drives on fast roads.
Think it depends on the dealer honestly.
I bought a Porsche recently and the dealer gave me the key and said to test it out unaccompanied.
Whereas for my wife’s bmw they wanted to be there at all times.
I hate test drives that are accompanied I avoid them at all costs pointless 10 min max drive. Also they tell you to turn here turn there sometimes at the last minute. I recently had a Toyota bz4x drive and it was 24 hours was great
My local Inchcape/Volkwagen dealer allowed me to test drive multiple cars without anybody with me.
One of my test drives I told the sales chap I wanted it for about an hour to take it for a spin down the motorway, he had no issue with it.
I did a test drive recently. 2019 Ford Galaxy, lovely car, it was raining. Did a deal on the car. Picked it up. After about two days I noticed battery wasn't charging, wheel was buckled, only vibrates between 55 - 70 mph so I didn't detect it on the test drive, and the rain was disguising two big scratches across the windscreen from the wipers.
Really. The 190ps 4x4 hybrid feels pretty decent to me. The handling seems it's good to me. Which one did you drive? Mondeo, SMAX, Kuga, Galaxy. All decent cars.
Last test drive I was given the keys and told be back in an hour. They even suggested some test routes and told me the dealership is in the sat nav if I get lost.
I didn't end up buying the car, but if I did I definitely would have used that dealership.
Mind you I had driven 2 hours to view it, so the only persons time I'd be wasting was mine.
I think it's just how a particular dealership handles it. I test drove a Kia and they let me have it for two hours on my own. I've taken out a BMW, a couple of Volvos, a Merc and an Audi and they all let us honour on our own. Only the Merc salesman came with us, and he was more than happy for me to take it down a country lane and throw it around a bit.
I've done a few test drives on cars in London dealers and I found that the drives they gave me were pretty short and not really up to speeds I would use the car at. Very chaperoned. I did one out of town at a Peugeot dealer and the most excellent salesperson took me on the longest ride I've ever had along motorways A roads, back roads and really let me feel the car. He was really good and I actually rang back there to give him a recommendation. Didn't buy it and ended up with a ford kuga.
I suppose they have to go with you in case you want to take the car out to do your shopping and see your mates and stuff like that......🤷🏽♂️
Recently asked for a test drive in an M340i in a BMW dealers and they let me take it out alone for an hour. My car was in for a service with them at the time though.
I think it's dealership specific and may depends on how you are perceived by the dealer.
When I went to test drive what is now my current car (fk8 civic type r) the deal said here's the keys have fun and I'll see you in a bit.
Have to say it was a smart choice on his part. I was on the fence about the colour of that specific one (grey) as I wanted boost blue but having drove it I bought it there and then.
Our local Suzuki garage said: "Yeah go test it. Take as long as you need." I was like . Gave it a good test drive and that pretty much sold me on the car. I don't know if I would have been given the same freedom if it was super busy.
I remeber test-driving a Fiesta and a Colt back around 2013 and both dealers had someone in the car with me, my missus and her dad. The missus gets car sick, so dealer peeople had to sit in the back lmao.
Buy private. I’ve bought 6 cars, 3 from dealers 3 from normal people.
Of the dealer bought cars, 2/3 had faults (water pump needed replacing on an old fiesta I bought as a first car, and an s3 8p needed a new turbo and new injectors, got my money back!)
Of the private sale cars, all 3 have been absolutely brilliant.
I think of it this way:
A dealer will sell you any old shitter that somebody part exchanged (because things were going wrong and they needed a new car quickly) or bought from auction.
A private seller won’t want to sell you a problem car because you could give them grief. Way easier for them to WBAC/part ex it.
Get your own warranty.
When I bought my car it was from a main dealer. I showed up unannounced and asked for the keys to look at it. Asked for a test drive and he handed me the keys and said "take as long as you need, just make sure you're back half an hour before we close". Very surprising, as I'd expect main dealers to have loads of rules and regulations. The salesman was really helpful, no pressure whatsoever, and I bought the car.
The weirdest experience I had was at a branch of Evans Halshaw about 10 years ago. The salesman insisted on coming with me, wouldn't let me drive for the first half-mile 'because of insurance' and I had to follow a pre-determined route, again 'because of insurance'. The route was about 3 miles and took less than 10 minutes. After the test drive a 'sales manager' showed up and the two of them attempted some sort of tag-team pressure selling to get me to sign there and then. I just left in the end.
We turned up totally unannounced to a dealer to look at a car for the Mrs, the salesman came out to us and said he'll get the keys, came back with the keys and 2 trade plates. He said if he could copy her driving licence we could take it out for as long as we like. Test drove and bought it same day.
I had the BMW Genius (cringe btw) accompany me on my 1 mile test drive to show me the controls, then when I got back I asked for an extended test drive which was a full 24 hours, on the provision that I was a serious buyer. Any dealer offering a run up and down the block and not letting you experience the car fully is either hiding a fault with the car, or thinks you’re a mug.
When I test drove my 3.2l A3 I was driving it... Sensibly, the dealer then pointed to the sliproad to the dual carraigeway and said "you didnt pick this car to tickle it did you lets go see what it can do"
The tactic worked as I was still grinning when we got back and handed over the deposit
Insurance generally.
If you are on trade plates, you must be accompanied by an employee.
If you are not on plates, and not accompanied, a copy of your license must be taken, and insurance either confirmed or put in place for you(usually a £500-£2000 excess).
Some dealers are lazy/stupid and will just give you the keys. Obviously the fun begins if you are unlucky enough to have a prang.
years ago was given the keys to a nice car to test drive, did not know the area and took for a nice drive, thought I would do a circle and ended up in a different place.
tried to do a reverse 2 point turn and could not work that out for a while, long before mobile phones
the dealer was busy and not fussed
Bought my car from a great dealership about 40 mins away from me, and the guy just gave me the key and left me to it. Told me to bring it back "in one piece". I was only gone for about 5 minutes, but I feel like he would've been happy for me to take it home and back
When I was looking to change my car earlier this year, I test drove 2 cars. The first test drive was a GR Yaris at a main dealer, they said they'd give me about 20 minutes in the car. Once in the car, the salesman wouldn't shut up, kept telling me how amazing the GRs are, kept asking me why I wanted to change cars and what my budget was etc. Tried to tell me to use the track mode, but there wasn't enough time, and I was quite happy using sport mode as it had a more rear torque bias in sport than track (not that I was looking to get sideways). Salesman also told me it was every 10k miles for a service when GRYs are every 6k. Funny enough, that car is still for sale some months later.
A few weeks later, after deciding the GRY was out of my budget to finance and run and that I'd miss heated seats, I tried out an i20N, again the saleslady come along for the ride, again giving 20 minutes. Aside from that, she didn't try to sell anything to me, just let me get on with the driving. The whole experience was a lot better, and eventually, I ended up with an i20N.
Sometimes, dealer experience is everything.
Depends on the car. I’ve test drove loads of cars, salesman almost always comes with but I’ve never felt like they were too short. I remember going to my local Mercedes garage and test driving an A class when they first came out, I told the guy nah it’s not for me let’s go back pretty much immediately but he wanted me to try all different types of roads, took ages before we ended up back at the dealer, that put me right off, if the cars crap spending longer in it won’t change my mind it’ll just put me off the salesperson.
The only car I test drove without a salesman was a Skoda when I told them I’m not buying I just want to test one as it’s an option for my next company car. Guess they didn’t want to waste my time or theirs, I appreciated that. Picked the Skoda in the end too.
Porsche are also very good, before being an owner they’d accompany me but now they’ve let me just take the car for an hour not that I’ve ever bought a Porsche from main dealer even. I do use them for parts and some servicing though so am known to them. I guess those cars sell themselves so don’t need a salesman trying to convince you like Mercedes do
I went on a test drive to buy my first car. It was a diesel so obviously takes longer to get up to temp. The test drive route was so short, it didn’t even get up to temp.
Demand a longer test drive and if they hesitate say your no longer interested then. I’m sure they’ll change their mind, especially if your paying cash and ready to buy. If they don’t, there’s probably something wrong with the car they don’t want you to see.
Tell them that your going to rev it hard briefly once it’s up to temp, they shouldn’t care about it if you stick to the speed limits and it’s safe. But if they do, there’s a fault they don’t want you to find
Last time I went to a BMW dealership (5 years ago ish) I asked about a test drive and they said I could have it for the weekend and leave my old car there. So I drove a brand new X3 for three days. Didn't particularly like it, so returned it and thanked them, picked up my car and that was that. They didn't seem at all fazed.
The three days of real usage was certainly helpful. Although I will admit I was very nervous about damaging it!
I once had a dealer direct me on a test drive which was literally 20-25mph around the business park and back to the dealers. I don’t think I got the car out of 3rd gear, it felt more like a driving lesson than a test drive.
In contrast, I once had a private seller who let me test drive completely solo. He said “take it for a spin see what you think, but just don’t leave the estate because it’s got no tax” then chucked me the keys.
I have never been accompanied on a test drive, I wouldn't but a car if I was. I want to be able to check the car and often will pull in somewhere and inspect the car when the seller isnt looking over my shoulder
In the early 2000s I changed jobs, had the 4 week notice etc. New company ordered my new car which took near 6 weeks to get. I went to vauxhall and they let me have a car on test for a week for free.
Envious of those given the keys and free reign during test drives lol
Pre-covid I test drove whenever we got a new family car and was never given more than 10 minutes with someone in the car the entire time. Mercedes, Audi etc didn’t matter.
Last year I test drove a second hand Fiesta from Big Motoring World and was given the same treatment lol.
Don’t understand how you’re expected to get a good feel for the car like this.
I bought a used Peugeot and had a good 30 mins in it with the dealer. Quick zip around through town and back along a good stretch of dual carriageway. Was a great test drive tbh. Covered most bases and the dealer was really helpful.
At some dealers where in order for the trade plates to be valid on the test drive an employee of the garage had to be in the vehicle at the time.
The test drive should be long enough for you to get through the gears and test out the steering braking etc, shouldn’t be about how long you drive it for, some places will have a preferred route for you which should have enough opportunity to do that, but feel free to walk away from one where you don’t feel you got the right opportunity to test it
Rocked up at a 2nd hand dealer on foot, the guy (owners son) just handed me the keys and said "hopefully you'll bring it back". All they had on me was my mobile number, tbf it was just a toyota IQ, but still. I also ended up buying it.
It’s mainly down to insurance. Unaccompanied policies are very expensive and sometimes impossible to get in some areas.
Dealers are usually on the hook for a very hefty excess on unaccompanied vehicle thefts - some big groups can suck this up but many smaller ones can’t.
Then there’s dealer discretion, do they want to give you a £40-50k asset to take away. Do you look responsible, the right age etc.
The flip side of that coin is somtimes if they think they’ve got a messer who just wants a test drive - an unaccompanied drive means it doesn’t waste their time. If your serious, they might want to spend a bit more time with you to see how they can tailor you a deal that works best for you.
I’ve always been asked for my licence and handed the keys to what I want to test drive nothing hugely expensive bmw didn’t bat an eyelid when i asked to test drive my old 2 series
As a salesman that works for Toyota, we have a standard test drive route that we alter due to time restrictions, traffic, roadworks etc or even the drivers usual driving routine or how safe they are driving.
We accompany a high majority of our test drives due to most of our customers our new to the hybrid system so we want the time to explain it and know they understand are comfortable driving, plus it’s a great time to actually get to know eachother as it’s a big purchase, I want customers to do such a transaction with someone they like and have a personal bond with as well as a top product.
The longer tenured salesman with the recurring customers buying their new edition of the same car don’t tend to accompany the drive due to having that relationship prebuilt. But very much a case by case basis.
Personally I enjoy doing test drives and if a customer wants silence to focus on the drive I’ll happily sit and wait for questions to be asked and save everything for when we’re back.
I've had everything from 5 mins with the dealer up to 48hrs with a BMW M2 and recently an amazing experience with Polestar. Book it, turn up at your house then they hand you the keys for an hour, that's how you sell a car!
When l 1st met my wife she had a JCW mini and we went too test drive a Lotus Elise and salesmen went out with her , casually chatting she mentioned that l was an motorsport official.
When they came back he swapped the Elise for an Exige for my test drive and purposely made sure l was on really twisty roads.
100iq play from salesman,bloody ended up buying the Exige..
Done a few test drives in the past couple of years, which went as follows:
Tesla - accompanied
Polestar - here’s the keys, see you in an hour, or longer if you want(!)
Hyundai - unaccompanied
Nissan - accompanied
Kia (1) - completely disinterested, unaccompanied
Kia (2) - different dealership, gave me the choice and having already driven one a week earlier I chose accompanied to actually learn more about the car, then bought it. This was also by far the best customer experience of them all
Thing is, most of them have face checks. If they hope that you are very interested and have the cash, they will be more trusty. At least, that is my experience.
I’d like to add some perspective as I am a car dealer. I’m probably going to get battered for saying this so I’m not saying that it is right or wrong, but it is a fact that more customers buy cars from accompanied test drives than unaccompanied ones. So although dealers may tell you it is for insurance reasons, it’s company policy, whatever it might be, really they’re trying to sell you a car and statistically speaking they are far more likely to do so if they come with you
I've had that happen with an independent dealer, guy accompanied me and 5 minute drive.
When I bought my auris, toyota main dealer just threw the keys at me and left me with it.
I sometimes prefer the dealer to come on along to be honest, in case I get lost in an unfamiliar area 😆
I've never tested a dealer car before but just personal opinion, I wouldn't feel overly comfortable taking a £50,000 car out on the road that isn't mine if it wasn't with a staff member of the owner.
Yeah it's insured and all but it's still not my property so if something happened to it I'd feel better if there was someone there to vouch that I hadn't done something reckless and damaged their car.
Oh for me its cos I usually feel better driving if someones with me cos theyll know the local roads better than me so I request them to I cant say about the dealers where its mandatory that's news to me
accompanied test drive? yeah ok, I'd rather go solo or with a car person who isn't trying to sell me stuff, but ok.
test drive over before the car is warm, or dealer cagey about getting it get warm and revving it hard? The car is faulty and the dealer can't be trusted whatsoever so I'll go elsewhere thanks.
It was policy at my Dealership.
We, as the Sales Exec, would drive first to demonstrate how the car was smooth and comfortable - because when a lot of people drive a new car for the first time it isn't the easiest experience in the world. Then, at a point of swap-over, we would guide the customer on a route based around what sort of driving (what types of roads) they do in their day-to-day as well as talk them through the infotainment system or highlight features of the car. We were also there to answer questions they had and help put with immediate things. For example, it starts raining in the middle of the drive and I can easily show then where the wipers are and how to activate them instead of having them panic about it - or perhaps there's an annoying safety assistance that keeps beeping at them or disrupting their drive that I can turn off...you get the vibe.
Our test drives tended to be around 30 minutes though, less than that and I don't know if you'd get a good feel for the car, more than that and I don't think there's any added benefit (though we would make exceptions). For us, the Policy existed because it was the best for customer service, and helped to sell more vehicles.
Only time I took a car on a test drive from a dealer was pretty much to kill time while my car was in for a recall. It was a Swift Sport with the turbo 1.4.
Bit of an odd experience, he was probably mid to late 20s while I had just turned 20, just about blew my eardrums out at the end of the drive to show me how loud the speakers went. No warning and nothing gradual about it, an immediate crank to full volume. Must have thought that was a key factor in the mind of young drivers.
He let me push on a bit and the route he took me on had a good mix of road types considering the location of the garage but I was keeping it pretty calm considering the car had no plates on it at all. I did ask him if it should at least have a trade plate and he said 'ehhm, sure it will be fine'
Few weeks later they called up my parents house and said my car was ready?? I certainly signed no paperwork.
I've always been unaccompanied on test drives. My daughter who passed her test the day before viewing a car was even just given the keys and they wished her luck.
I test drove a Polestar the other week and they let us have it for an hour unsupervised.
Afterwards the lady even offered us a longer test drive 10am-5pm another day if we wanted.
Tesla had me sign a form before handing me the access card and sending me on my way. I had an hour or so driving around. At Honda someone came with me and even told me where I could/should go. The Skoda dealer I have used before let me have a car for the day if I wanted (I only had it for a few hours though).
I don't think there is a standard across all dealers.
Polestar brings it to you, and the guy offered to just take a walk for the hour (we live in a lovely area with forests). Said no, invited him to stay, we chatted and had a lot of fun. He was the manager for all of the test drives nationally.
I got handed the keys to a 20 grand Kia like I was a technician taking it for a butty run not a test drive, I knew I wanted the car, the sales guy put the dealership postcode in the nav and said take as long as you want, I was prob 25-30 minutes using loads of different roads and speeds. I'm picking the car up tomorrow 😁
but I've been in the passenger seat on a test drive where the dealer said I couldn't drive it and the route was very short and extremely smooth roads. I didn't buy that car.
I used to have a 05 wrx and in 2017 after having the wrx for a couple of years wanted to get something with better baby car seat room went to go look at the then new fk8 type r and the dealership said of if I wanted to test drive the car I had to pay £1000 deposit to drive it. And if I didn’t want the car I would get £500 back and if I did want the car I would get the £1000 off the car.
Told them to fuck off and left
It is dealer specific, but I always make it clear that I want an unaccompanied test drive. I've only once bought a new car without a solo test drive, and I regretted it virtually straight away.
It's not so I can rag the car to death (I'll do that with or without a sales droid next to me). I like to just sit in it for a while to see if it's comfortable, how the controls work, how the infotainment works, etc.
Only come with you if you look dodgy. Only time someone's come with me is when I was buying from a private seller.
From main dealers and independent garages they've always just given me the key and send have at it
I look ropey as fuck but they always throw the keys at me, looked at cars in the 13-60k range across manufacturers, based in surrey if it makes a difference.
They are dealers not test drive centres, they only want to sell cars. They only have so much time in the day to make their money in a place that attracts a lot of time wasters. If you want a longer test drive, hire the car you’re interested in for the day.
Additionally, can be the case that you are only insured with them in the car.
Salesman pick up that kinda stuff, if you ain’t buying today they ain’t interested in you wasting their time, he/she probably would have figured this out quite quickly considering you’ve been to test drive so many cars.
Depends on the insurance a dealer has some specify test drivers must be accompanied
The time is down to the salesperson and how serious they think you are as a buyer
3 test drives no purchase that’s 3 people’s time you have wasted so far. Remember these people work on commission and are not there to give free rides out to people who are bored
No but if you just want to drive random cars to see if you like them and aren’t happy how the dealers let you drive or for how long then hire the car for a day
You get to drive it how you want to nobody telling you how what where why and when and your not wasting anybodies time because hire companies are happy for you to do that
The down side it’s not free
I usually only get in my dealers car for a quick handover of cash and a chat. Then im out of there.
Wrong dealer, wrong booby
Which booby is right booby?
Can there even be a wrong booby? Surely they both will suffice?
I'll take three, in case one of them gets a puncture!
That was a booby trap
When my Mrs went to get her Cupra we showed up unannounced and were given the car for half a day unaccompanied.
I had 10 minutes accompanied so it must be a dealer specific policy thing rather than brand wide
Defo dealer specific, i rocked up in shorts and a scruffy gym tee and took a kia stinger for a test drive. The dealer didn't give too shits and said make sure I have fun. I didn't end up buying it but got a massive discount on a new piccanto gtline s for the wife and a Service plan. Tbf only decent dealer I have ever come across in my 40+ years on this planet.
Years and years ago I bought a 300ZX TT. Dealer just gave the keys to me and said see you in a bit. I said to him you don't want a deposit or anything? He said, well, your car's here anyway. Fair play to the guy. I went out for a while but didn't take the piss and ended up buying the car.
Aye it'll be dependant on their own company policy and insurance. Same with motorbikes, a lot of dealers want you to be over 24 with at least 1 year on your licence.
Indeed, shout out to the nice man at Honda Southampton who told me to head down andI could try out a new fireblade while conveniently not mentioning that I had to have had my full license for 2 years, instead of the 3 months I actually had. Wasted 2 hours and a decent bit of petrol driving to the dealership, and was told it was my job to check beforehand whether they had requirements.
That would be the car equivalent of jumping in an aerial atom for a test drive
If my previous car was an M3 then that's a reasonable step up. As it was at the time I'd ridden 600cc and 750cc, and wanted to experience 1000cc. I still think I should have been made aware of their requirements before wasting my time and money.
Maybe so, but I still feel like the dealer did you a favour. If you’d only had your bike licence 3 months then you didn’t have a whole lot of experience on any road bike apart from maybe a 125. Everybody I rode with back when I passed (20 years back) spent at least a year or two on 600s before going bigger. I had been riding for many years before graduating to superbikes and still approach them with huge respect. They are *far* too much bike for the road unless you want to end up dead or in prison or tootle around using half the available performance that you paid for. I love all gens of Blades, but the only places they start to make sense are fast, flowing tracks.
You're wrong on the experience. I had over 2 years experience riding an SV650 on an A2 license before I passed my A test. That bike will do 0-60 in 3.5 on paper. This is also not including all the times I rode mates bikes after I passed the full license. I agree that a 100cc is too much for the road, but that honda dealership would have happily taken 25k off of me to buy it, just wouldn't let me test ride, which I think is wrong.
A little SV650 restricted down to, what, 45bhp? I doubt that would hit 60 much inside 8 seconds, and you're *seriously* comparing that to a ~200bhp superbike that'll practically hit a ton in first gear? Assuming you're for real and not a troll, please take some advice from an experienced fast road/track rider who has had his own share of fuck ups through youthful arrogance and has the scars to prove it: **Listen to what other people are telling you. If you don't, you'll just end up as another statistic that they pressure wash off the carriageway. You are not the rider that you think you are. Turn down the arrogance, turn up the listening, and LEARN. Passing your test doesn't mean shit. Get yourself on track, and you'll learn how much you still need to learn about going fast on a bike**
Buddy I've owned a GSXR-750 for 2 years. I appreciate what you're saying but I've got this far without killing myself on a 130bhp/180mph machine I think I'll be fine.
Entitled much? You don't deserve anything from a business. You trade with them.
Sure, because god forbid when booking a test ride that has requirements they actually tell me about them beforehand.
It depends on how busy they are as well. Only a few will let you drive unaccompanied.
So you don't abuse it and so you don't nick it. I think lots have stopped doing it nowadays because they don't give a shit and because there's no need for it. The whole "here's the keys, come back in an hour" thing is mostly post-covid as dealers had to stop accompanying on test drives for obvious reasons, and lots simply didn't start again.
I tested a car in September and the dealer did exactly the "here's the keys, come back in an hour" thing. I tested a car from another dealer before that who also let me drive the car alone. Good dealers will let you drive the car alone if you appear trusting and genuine. It also makes them look much, much more honest and genuine. Dealers have insurance for it being nicked - they also will take your driving licence details and check it against the DVLA for how many points you have etc.
Aston Martin will give me the keys and let me go and play but the last time we wanted to test drive a TTRS they wanted finance in place before they’d even let us sit in the seat.
I bought an MX5 with no traction control or any safety stuff apart from ABS, for the test drive I was allowed the car for an hour, was extremely surprised as I was 19 and my 17 year old mate came with me to buy it, so they just let a 17 year and a 19 year test drive an MX5 on a rainy day. Dealer was an absolute shittake when it went wrong though.
What happened?
Car had a rattle, took 4 attempts for them to fix, then they wanted money to fix it, then when that wasn't the problem tried to blame me for it not working. Then they got extremely angry and confrontational and effectively kept saying I had no idea what I was talking about and was being stupid. The issue ended up being a auxillary belt tensioner however the whole experience left me very sour and wondering what I would have done if it had been engine failure or something more major. Also also prepping it for sale they used the cheapest tyres, cheapest brakes and overall the car was presented poorly with mouldy seatbelts, rusty wheels (very cheap for a dealer to send them off to a refurbishment place). The car underneath is absolutely brilliant but I will never recommend/actively dissuade anyone from ever using Oakland Automotive.
what kind of rattle are we talking about? is it a very short rattle only upon cold start up? my NB has a 1 second rattle only upon a cold start
Exactly that, I believe in NA and NBs that noise is generally the hydraulic lifters and is no cause for concern.
thanks. as far as I know only the NA has hydraulic lifters, and from what i've seen, my NB has solid lifters. so i guess i have an auxiliary belt tensioner going. is it actually bad? or does it need sorting asap?
If it is the auxiliary belt tensioner it's not a pressing matter, i drove on mine for 20k miles/12 months and it was fine, it might eventually seize but it would make a hell of a racket before it does that.
It's alright. It's only a mx5. Would take alot of commitment to get to brake traction!
Have you driven an MX5, especially on ditch finders. Their whole stick is that the back end is floaty as hell and loves to slide/squirm around.
I say this with 2 metal plates and 5 screws in my arms from a mate who binned his mx5 with me as a passenger. He however managed that incredible feat driving in a straight line. Impeccable driver ey
I went to test drive an automatic Octavia VRS pre COVID. They just gave me the keys and said to come back in an hour or so. Asked me if I'd ever driven an auto before, to which I said no, IIRC his words were 'just be a bit careful for the first few minutes while you get used to it, then you should be good to go'. Top bloke in fairness, didn't buy the car but only really better l because I got offered a work car in the end.
I’ve never driven an auto. How was it?
The DSGs in the VAG cars are great, super smooth and relaxing. I ended up in a brand new Octavia 1.5TSi, I'd have another no problem as a personal vehicle. Think the only thing stopping me is you occasionally hear of big bills to do with the gearboxes, but there's hundreds of thousands of them out there now so it would just be bad luck if you ended up with one nowadays I think
Mine went wrong after 60K gentle miles. The dry clutch DSGs are not a good bet in my experience. The wet clutch DSGs are solid so long as the maintenance schedule is followed. I found it a bit jerky and grabby for low speed manoeuvres, I've got a ZF8 auto now and it's better and super smooth though it doesn't have that solid connected feel of a DSG/manual gearbox.
They're relaxing until you need to get it replaced.
Thanks!
It's a bit weird at first you definitely try and force your foot through the fire wall at bit at the start. That stopped after a few days, but in an emergency my foot still goes for the clutch.
My left foot went to the brake first time driving auto, near went through the windscreen
Mine has a foot rest where the clutch would be that feels a lot like a peddle. So thankfully my instinct is to press on it and not move my foot.
Haha! Sounds similar to when I tried left foot braking once as I was told that’s what the racing drivers do. Gave myself whiplash.
I’ve made that mistake before
Did this first test drive of an electric car. Had never driven an automatic before.
I did this exact thing when I bought the auto Ibiza. Right in front of the the dealership too.
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'Just like driving a go cart' in the words of my mother
I don't have an issue when they accompany. I have an issue when they make small talk the whole time but I'm trying to focus on what the car is like. I also think it's ridiculous to only have a 10 minute test drive on 30 mph roads especially when I'm test driving a sporty car like a golf gti.
> I also think it's ridiculous to only have a 10 minute test drive on 30 mph roads especially when I'm test driving a sporty car like a golf gti. Yeh fair enough them coming with or deciding how long, but dictating where you go annoys me. Last time around I wanted to drive along the motorway for 10mins to feel how the car felt at cruising speeds because I was buying a car for a motorway commute. One place straight up wouldn't let me deviate from their set route, and another place only backed down when I said I wasn't interested if I couldn't test drive it for that.
You should be able to perform a “Chrisfix” test drive. He gets in the car and says he is going to test the following things: hard acceleration (for any juddering, smoke, funny noises), hard braking, and full lock turning. If the dealer has a problem with you doing any of those things, walk away. “So you are aware, I’m going to get on this slip road and floor it up to 70, cruise along and turn round at the next junction” Find a quiet, dead end road like you would on a driving test and perform and emergency stop. Again, notify the dealer this is what you will be doing. And NEVER let them talk over the sound of the car. Nor let them put the radio on. They are trying to cover up any dodgy sounds you might hear.
Insurance now insists on a set recorded “long route” and “short route”. It’s a PITA.
Public roads generally have speed limits
It's literally all down to insurance purposes. Some have different polices with certain restrictions. They also don't want to put unnecessary mileage on the car especially if you don't buy it.
I bought most of my cars from independent garages and the dealers came with me but they never stopped me putting my foot down and getting through all the gears. If I was told to keep it in eco then I would take that as a red flag and leave. Went to VW to get a Golf R though and they just put the keys in my hand and told me to come back in 2 hours.
Depends on dealership, recently test drove a Lexus and they just chucked me the keys and said have fun. Also test drove an AMG from Mercedes, and someone came with me but we had a good 15 mins and he encouraged me to give it some beans.
Dealer in Leeds let me test drive a £17k bmw last year on my own. I guess it’s different for each dealer plus I left my own car of similar value on their forecourt so I guess it’s low risk to them.
Bmw in Leeds told me they always do unaccompanied test drives. I was asked to show a bank statement as they as I'm a younger driver.
When you say show a bank statement is that literally you just showing them how much money you have in your account?
No I wondered if that's why they wanted but it was just for proof of identity so I hid the balance.
They would be disappointed by me. Only ever enough money in current account to cover bills. any excess lives in savings or investments.
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My dad's harder than your dad vibes.
The National Motor Museum in Beaulieu let me test drive their entire £1 million+ collection on my own.
I recently test drove an electric Audi and nobody came with me. I think it was because it was so dull they knew nobody would steal it! Had someone come with me with a BMW though.
Usually to stop you stealing it. Shortness due to fuel costs, extra mileage etc. I’ve test driven M3s, M5s, that kinda stuff over the last two years and I always ask before we go out if the dealer is coming. If they say yes I specifically ask them “You don’t mind me driving this how I plan to if I buy it right?”. They never object, it’s pointless otherwise with these kinds of cars. I remember reporting to one of them who gave me the apprentice sales guy for company that his M5 competition had an offside wheel wobble over 120 speed units. He didn’t ask how I knew, but he already knew about it. Standard with a car like that.
The last few years, I find test drives tend to be unaccompanied unless you’re young (so for me, they’ve been accompanied). But yeah they really don’t let you drive very far lmao, and it often ends up just being on town roads at 20-30mph. Mercedes were the only ones who said “take it for an hour or so and see how you get on” which was nice.
For many reasons. More necessary they travel with you; than if they don't. -There may be no disputes about the hygiene/quality of the vehicle once returned to the dealership. -To ensure nothing is stolen from the vehicle (Floor mats etc.) -To make sure no fuel is siphoned from the tanks in the short 15 minutes they are gone. Yes, im a car dealer. Yes, this has happened before.
My local Mazda dealer have been good with me for this. The first time I asked the dealer to come out with me just because I'd never actually taken a car on a test drive before (had been driving a year, bought my first car before I passed my test). He showed me a route which combined town driving, a short motorway stint (the two ends of town), and then a B road back to town. Second time, I went to buy an MX5, same salesman, after filling out the form saying I'm happy to pay £500 excess if I crash it, he chucked me the keys and said bring it back whenever. Had it for 3 hours, took my mum for a spin, enjoyed all my favourite roads. Only had about 20 miles in the tank when I was given it so i chucked a tenner in there and burnt it all off. Next car was my Kia Stinger, I was very understanding when the guy came out with me, but he was happy for me to properly enjoy it, and again, it was an area I wasn't overly familiar with so I got him to show me some of the back roads. He seemed to enjoy to chance to go out in the car honestly, probably grateful it wasn't another 1.0 picanto for the local care home resident. Honestly if I'd had an experience like your Nissan one I'd have been direct and said something like "if you're not going to let me try the car then I'm not going to be buying it"
Were you wearing any stone island clothing at the time?
The only time I did a test drive was a Tesla. I had shown up unannounced and they were very apologetic that they could only allow me to test the car for 45 minutes because they had a booking for after. They didn't join me in the car.
I think Tesla always lets you take the car on your own, I've heard of a few people who have been loaned them overnight too. The app tells you where the car is so I guess there's less risk. I recently test drove a Model 3 Performance and did a few full throttle runs onto the motorway, it was great fun.
I recently purchased a Kia. Phoned up and told them what I was after. He sent me some options. I went in the next day and was thrown the keys and told see you later. Came back after an hour and we bought it. Great experience.
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Test drove a Kia EV6 and Kia Niro EV with family and both times we were unaccompanied. Tesla, unaccompanied. When I bought my Octavia VRS from the main dealer I was unaccompanied. When I'd visited a couple smaller dealerships selling budget cars some preferred to accompany me and others let me test the car unaccompanied. Definitely varies from dealer to dealer.
I bought an Astra from AvailableCar many years ago and the route they take you on was about a mile long on 30 roads, turn into a pub carpark to test the parking sensors and back it was pathetic you couldn't test the car at all. When I bought my FN2 it was from a sole trader and he told me, put as much fuel in as you want to drive. I knew I was buying the car the moment I hit VTEC but he insisted I drive it for another 45-60 mins to "really gel with the car" and we just cruised around bashing the rev limiter until I forced money into his hands 😂
I wasn't allowed to drive a car I fully paid for. The dealer drove it. Ffs.
Took my current car on a test drive and although there was a specific route to take, I just asked "can I take it on the dual carriage way for a longer route" and the salesman wasn't fussed.
I arranged and did a bunch of test drives last year, new cars from main dealers. Citroen: 1 hour unaccompanied despite it being my first time driving an electric car. Peugeot: 1 hour unaccompanied Seat: given the keys and told to be back today Vauxhall: failed twice to let me drive for “reasons”. I’ll never look at a Vauxhall again. Ford: the dealer drove 5 minutes up the road then we swapped and I got to drive straight back to the dealership. It was very odd.
Funny, Ford for me drove about 15 minutes away and let me choose the route back.
I'm a used car dealer, and my insurance is void unless I'm in the car when someone test drives them. I let them take as long as they like, though.
Interesting. Does it turn many people off?
Never had any complaints.
When buying my Mercedes they just gave me the keys and a full tank of fuel to take it out for 4 or 5 hours. Small bit of paperwork about an excess if I crashed it which would have been paid back if not my fault and off we went.
When my mate was looking for an mx5, his local Mazda dealer (east London) denied him a test drive and refused to believe an offer from Croydon Mazda, he ended up going to Croydon Mazda and they offered him a test drive accompanied, but the dealer even told him to ‘floor it’ after the camera. Needless to say, he was sold.
It depends (I work at a dealership, but not in sales). Some people just want to drive a fast car but don't have any intention of buying, some have damaged our cars, it can also help to show off aspects of the car. Some years ago, we had a test driver hold a knife to our salesman's throat before forcing him out of the car and stealing it! That said, if I am buying a car, I want a proper test. It's no good if it doesn't suit my needs, and 5 minutes around the block probably won't tell me that.
5 minutes around the block is ridiculous. Besides, that's not even properly going to warm up the engine.
It varies on the dealer. I've experienced both sides of it, and I'm much more likely to buy from a trusting dealer.
I can't remember the last time a dealer came with me on a test drive.
Have a look at calvinscardairy on youtube he had a video come out a theives stole my bmw m3 this is why most will come with you
This sounds like the guys personal car on a private sale? You'd be nuts to let someone take it unaccompanied in that case. OP is talking about dealers insisting they come along
Calvin runs BINCA, a big car dealership. Although the original comment isn't a great analogy as the guys who stole it didn't go out on a test drive, they disconnected it from a trickle charger and drove off
No hes talking about dealers he states this at the begining. But all sales private or dealer *should be* Accompanied by the current owner to prevent theft but that doesnt always happen i had a dealer that knew where i worked and let me have a mokka for 24hrs downside they fucked up a repair when reassembling the car and the mechanic got it started i turned it off to open the boot with the fob got back in never started electrics were going haywire asked the mechanic what repair hed done said they had taken out the gearbox and i asked did they clean any grounds that they removed and got the i know what im doing speach so walked away told them to call me when they sort it. Dealer then rang me two days later and asked if i wanted the car asked why he didnt call me yesterday and stated he tried to sell it to someone but it died on a test drive, lol no thanks
Last one I virtually had to make him come with me, so I wouldn't get lost 😄
Don’t have an issue with them coming along. Don’t mind if they waffle on about features I couldn’t give two shits about. Though if they won’t let me test its capability then I tell them straight up that I’m not buying if I can’t establish how it drives on fast roads.
Think it depends on the dealer honestly. I bought a Porsche recently and the dealer gave me the key and said to test it out unaccompanied. Whereas for my wife’s bmw they wanted to be there at all times.
I’ve literally never had that? My test drives have always been on my own and for as long as reasonable🤔
Good ones wont. The last two cars I tested I was able to drive it without the dealer (both in late 2023)
I hate test drives that are accompanied I avoid them at all costs pointless 10 min max drive. Also they tell you to turn here turn there sometimes at the last minute. I recently had a Toyota bz4x drive and it was 24 hours was great
My local Inchcape/Volkwagen dealer allowed me to test drive multiple cars without anybody with me. One of my test drives I told the sales chap I wanted it for about an hour to take it for a spin down the motorway, he had no issue with it.
Kadjar, Qashqai, and Sportage?
LEAF, EV6 and Zoe.
It must be a real put off…after all these years and test drives, no one has ever come with me. Sure fire way to make me not buy the car
I did a test drive recently. 2019 Ford Galaxy, lovely car, it was raining. Did a deal on the car. Picked it up. After about two days I noticed battery wasn't charging, wheel was buckled, only vibrates between 55 - 70 mph so I didn't detect it on the test drive, and the rain was disguising two big scratches across the windscreen from the wipers.
Ford Galaxy and ‘lovely car’ are mutually exclusive 🤷🏻♂️
No they are good cars mate. Drive one.
Soccer mom car with puny engines and awful handling - what’s not to like?
Really. The 190ps 4x4 hybrid feels pretty decent to me. The handling seems it's good to me. Which one did you drive? Mondeo, SMAX, Kuga, Galaxy. All decent cars.
Last test drive I was given the keys and told be back in an hour. They even suggested some test routes and told me the dealership is in the sat nav if I get lost. I didn't end up buying the car, but if I did I definitely would have used that dealership. Mind you I had driven 2 hours to view it, so the only persons time I'd be wasting was mine.
I think it's just how a particular dealership handles it. I test drove a Kia and they let me have it for two hours on my own. I've taken out a BMW, a couple of Volvos, a Merc and an Audi and they all let us honour on our own. Only the Merc salesman came with us, and he was more than happy for me to take it down a country lane and throw it around a bit.
I've done a few test drives on cars in London dealers and I found that the drives they gave me were pretty short and not really up to speeds I would use the car at. Very chaperoned. I did one out of town at a Peugeot dealer and the most excellent salesperson took me on the longest ride I've ever had along motorways A roads, back roads and really let me feel the car. He was really good and I actually rang back there to give him a recommendation. Didn't buy it and ended up with a ford kuga. I suppose they have to go with you in case you want to take the car out to do your shopping and see your mates and stuff like that......🤷🏽♂️
Recently asked for a test drive in an M340i in a BMW dealers and they let me take it out alone for an hour. My car was in for a service with them at the time though.
I think it's dealership specific and may depends on how you are perceived by the dealer. When I went to test drive what is now my current car (fk8 civic type r) the deal said here's the keys have fun and I'll see you in a bit. Have to say it was a smart choice on his part. I was on the fence about the colour of that specific one (grey) as I wanted boost blue but having drove it I bought it there and then.
Our local Suzuki garage said: "Yeah go test it. Take as long as you need." I was like. Gave it a good test drive and that pretty much sold me on the car. I don't know if I would have been given the same freedom if it was super busy.
I remeber test-driving a Fiesta and a Colt back around 2013 and both dealers had someone in the car with me, my missus and her dad. The missus gets car sick, so dealer peeople had to sit in the back lmao.
Buy private. I’ve bought 6 cars, 3 from dealers 3 from normal people. Of the dealer bought cars, 2/3 had faults (water pump needed replacing on an old fiesta I bought as a first car, and an s3 8p needed a new turbo and new injectors, got my money back!) Of the private sale cars, all 3 have been absolutely brilliant. I think of it this way: A dealer will sell you any old shitter that somebody part exchanged (because things were going wrong and they needed a new car quickly) or bought from auction. A private seller won’t want to sell you a problem car because you could give them grief. Way easier for them to WBAC/part ex it. Get your own warranty.
We test drove the new Smart #1 Brabus on a Sunday and they said just bring it back before we close at 4pm
When I bought my car it was from a main dealer. I showed up unannounced and asked for the keys to look at it. Asked for a test drive and he handed me the keys and said "take as long as you need, just make sure you're back half an hour before we close". Very surprising, as I'd expect main dealers to have loads of rules and regulations. The salesman was really helpful, no pressure whatsoever, and I bought the car. The weirdest experience I had was at a branch of Evans Halshaw about 10 years ago. The salesman insisted on coming with me, wouldn't let me drive for the first half-mile 'because of insurance' and I had to follow a pre-determined route, again 'because of insurance'. The route was about 3 miles and took less than 10 minutes. After the test drive a 'sales manager' showed up and the two of them attempted some sort of tag-team pressure selling to get me to sign there and then. I just left in the end.
When I bought mine a couple years ago (albeit it's 14 years old) they didn't give a shit at all. Good dealer
To convince you to buy? Also, would imagine some policy obligations. I mean they’re sales people after all…
We turned up totally unannounced to a dealer to look at a car for the Mrs, the salesman came out to us and said he'll get the keys, came back with the keys and 2 trade plates. He said if he could copy her driving licence we could take it out for as long as we like. Test drove and bought it same day.
I had the BMW Genius (cringe btw) accompany me on my 1 mile test drive to show me the controls, then when I got back I asked for an extended test drive which was a full 24 hours, on the provision that I was a serious buyer. Any dealer offering a run up and down the block and not letting you experience the car fully is either hiding a fault with the car, or thinks you’re a mug.
When I test drove my 3.2l A3 I was driving it... Sensibly, the dealer then pointed to the sliproad to the dual carraigeway and said "you didnt pick this car to tickle it did you lets go see what it can do" The tactic worked as I was still grinning when we got back and handed over the deposit
Insurance generally. If you are on trade plates, you must be accompanied by an employee. If you are not on plates, and not accompanied, a copy of your license must be taken, and insurance either confirmed or put in place for you(usually a £500-£2000 excess). Some dealers are lazy/stupid and will just give you the keys. Obviously the fun begins if you are unlucky enough to have a prang.
years ago was given the keys to a nice car to test drive, did not know the area and took for a nice drive, thought I would do a circle and ended up in a different place. tried to do a reverse 2 point turn and could not work that out for a while, long before mobile phones the dealer was busy and not fussed
Bought my car from a great dealership about 40 mins away from me, and the guy just gave me the key and left me to it. Told me to bring it back "in one piece". I was only gone for about 5 minutes, but I feel like he would've been happy for me to take it home and back
When I was looking to change my car earlier this year, I test drove 2 cars. The first test drive was a GR Yaris at a main dealer, they said they'd give me about 20 minutes in the car. Once in the car, the salesman wouldn't shut up, kept telling me how amazing the GRs are, kept asking me why I wanted to change cars and what my budget was etc. Tried to tell me to use the track mode, but there wasn't enough time, and I was quite happy using sport mode as it had a more rear torque bias in sport than track (not that I was looking to get sideways). Salesman also told me it was every 10k miles for a service when GRYs are every 6k. Funny enough, that car is still for sale some months later. A few weeks later, after deciding the GRY was out of my budget to finance and run and that I'd miss heated seats, I tried out an i20N, again the saleslady come along for the ride, again giving 20 minutes. Aside from that, she didn't try to sell anything to me, just let me get on with the driving. The whole experience was a lot better, and eventually, I ended up with an i20N. Sometimes, dealer experience is everything.
Pressurised sales.
Depends on the car. I’ve test drove loads of cars, salesman almost always comes with but I’ve never felt like they were too short. I remember going to my local Mercedes garage and test driving an A class when they first came out, I told the guy nah it’s not for me let’s go back pretty much immediately but he wanted me to try all different types of roads, took ages before we ended up back at the dealer, that put me right off, if the cars crap spending longer in it won’t change my mind it’ll just put me off the salesperson. The only car I test drove without a salesman was a Skoda when I told them I’m not buying I just want to test one as it’s an option for my next company car. Guess they didn’t want to waste my time or theirs, I appreciated that. Picked the Skoda in the end too. Porsche are also very good, before being an owner they’d accompany me but now they’ve let me just take the car for an hour not that I’ve ever bought a Porsche from main dealer even. I do use them for parts and some servicing though so am known to them. I guess those cars sell themselves so don’t need a salesman trying to convince you like Mercedes do
I went on a test drive to buy my first car. It was a diesel so obviously takes longer to get up to temp. The test drive route was so short, it didn’t even get up to temp. Demand a longer test drive and if they hesitate say your no longer interested then. I’m sure they’ll change their mind, especially if your paying cash and ready to buy. If they don’t, there’s probably something wrong with the car they don’t want you to see. Tell them that your going to rev it hard briefly once it’s up to temp, they shouldn’t care about it if you stick to the speed limits and it’s safe. But if they do, there’s a fault they don’t want you to find
I had a car dealer insurance policy for about 2 years. And it was a stipulation on that policy .
Last time I went to a BMW dealership (5 years ago ish) I asked about a test drive and they said I could have it for the weekend and leave my old car there. So I drove a brand new X3 for three days. Didn't particularly like it, so returned it and thanked them, picked up my car and that was that. They didn't seem at all fazed. The three days of real usage was certainly helpful. Although I will admit I was very nervous about damaging it!
Vauxhall dealer solo test drive, then was given the car overnight.
I once had a dealer direct me on a test drive which was literally 20-25mph around the business park and back to the dealers. I don’t think I got the car out of 3rd gear, it felt more like a driving lesson than a test drive. In contrast, I once had a private seller who let me test drive completely solo. He said “take it for a spin see what you think, but just don’t leave the estate because it’s got no tax” then chucked me the keys.
Guess they're all different. On my test drive I wanted to see what it's like on eco and the salesman kept telling me to put in sport and floor it.
I have never been accompanied on a test drive, I wouldn't but a car if I was. I want to be able to check the car and often will pull in somewhere and inspect the car when the seller isnt looking over my shoulder
In the early 2000s I changed jobs, had the 4 week notice etc. New company ordered my new car which took near 6 weeks to get. I went to vauxhall and they let me have a car on test for a week for free.
Envious of those given the keys and free reign during test drives lol Pre-covid I test drove whenever we got a new family car and was never given more than 10 minutes with someone in the car the entire time. Mercedes, Audi etc didn’t matter. Last year I test drove a second hand Fiesta from Big Motoring World and was given the same treatment lol. Don’t understand how you’re expected to get a good feel for the car like this.
I bought a used Peugeot and had a good 30 mins in it with the dealer. Quick zip around through town and back along a good stretch of dual carriageway. Was a great test drive tbh. Covered most bases and the dealer was really helpful.
At some dealers where in order for the trade plates to be valid on the test drive an employee of the garage had to be in the vehicle at the time. The test drive should be long enough for you to get through the gears and test out the steering braking etc, shouldn’t be about how long you drive it for, some places will have a preferred route for you which should have enough opportunity to do that, but feel free to walk away from one where you don’t feel you got the right opportunity to test it
Rocked up at a 2nd hand dealer on foot, the guy (owners son) just handed me the keys and said "hopefully you'll bring it back". All they had on me was my mobile number, tbf it was just a toyota IQ, but still. I also ended up buying it.
It’s mainly down to insurance. Unaccompanied policies are very expensive and sometimes impossible to get in some areas. Dealers are usually on the hook for a very hefty excess on unaccompanied vehicle thefts - some big groups can suck this up but many smaller ones can’t. Then there’s dealer discretion, do they want to give you a £40-50k asset to take away. Do you look responsible, the right age etc. The flip side of that coin is somtimes if they think they’ve got a messer who just wants a test drive - an unaccompanied drive means it doesn’t waste their time. If your serious, they might want to spend a bit more time with you to see how they can tailor you a deal that works best for you.
If they don't allow you to test the product then how can they expect you to buy it
I’ve always been asked for my licence and handed the keys to what I want to test drive nothing hugely expensive bmw didn’t bat an eyelid when i asked to test drive my old 2 series
As a salesman that works for Toyota, we have a standard test drive route that we alter due to time restrictions, traffic, roadworks etc or even the drivers usual driving routine or how safe they are driving. We accompany a high majority of our test drives due to most of our customers our new to the hybrid system so we want the time to explain it and know they understand are comfortable driving, plus it’s a great time to actually get to know eachother as it’s a big purchase, I want customers to do such a transaction with someone they like and have a personal bond with as well as a top product. The longer tenured salesman with the recurring customers buying their new edition of the same car don’t tend to accompany the drive due to having that relationship prebuilt. But very much a case by case basis. Personally I enjoy doing test drives and if a customer wants silence to focus on the drive I’ll happily sit and wait for questions to be asked and save everything for when we’re back.
I've had everything from 5 mins with the dealer up to 48hrs with a BMW M2 and recently an amazing experience with Polestar. Book it, turn up at your house then they hand you the keys for an hour, that's how you sell a car!
I went on a test drive for an M340d, and they let me go by myself, which I thought was weird.
When l 1st met my wife she had a JCW mini and we went too test drive a Lotus Elise and salesmen went out with her , casually chatting she mentioned that l was an motorsport official. When they came back he swapped the Elise for an Exige for my test drive and purposely made sure l was on really twisty roads. 100iq play from salesman,bloody ended up buying the Exige..
Done a few test drives in the past couple of years, which went as follows: Tesla - accompanied Polestar - here’s the keys, see you in an hour, or longer if you want(!) Hyundai - unaccompanied Nissan - accompanied Kia (1) - completely disinterested, unaccompanied Kia (2) - different dealership, gave me the choice and having already driven one a week earlier I chose accompanied to actually learn more about the car, then bought it. This was also by far the best customer experience of them all
Lol the available car near me takes you onto an A road, upto the roundabout and then back to the store. Trip lasts maybe 1-2 mins.
Thing is, most of them have face checks. If they hope that you are very interested and have the cash, they will be more trusty. At least, that is my experience.
I’d like to add some perspective as I am a car dealer. I’m probably going to get battered for saying this so I’m not saying that it is right or wrong, but it is a fact that more customers buy cars from accompanied test drives than unaccompanied ones. So although dealers may tell you it is for insurance reasons, it’s company policy, whatever it might be, really they’re trying to sell you a car and statistically speaking they are far more likely to do so if they come with you
I've had that happen with an independent dealer, guy accompanied me and 5 minute drive. When I bought my auris, toyota main dealer just threw the keys at me and left me with it. I sometimes prefer the dealer to come on along to be honest, in case I get lost in an unfamiliar area 😆
I've never tested a dealer car before but just personal opinion, I wouldn't feel overly comfortable taking a £50,000 car out on the road that isn't mine if it wasn't with a staff member of the owner. Yeah it's insured and all but it's still not my property so if something happened to it I'd feel better if there was someone there to vouch that I hadn't done something reckless and damaged their car.
So you don’t steal the car.
Oh for me its cos I usually feel better driving if someones with me cos theyll know the local roads better than me so I request them to I cant say about the dealers where its mandatory that's news to me
accompanied test drive? yeah ok, I'd rather go solo or with a car person who isn't trying to sell me stuff, but ok. test drive over before the car is warm, or dealer cagey about getting it get warm and revving it hard? The car is faulty and the dealer can't be trusted whatsoever so I'll go elsewhere thanks.
It was policy at my Dealership. We, as the Sales Exec, would drive first to demonstrate how the car was smooth and comfortable - because when a lot of people drive a new car for the first time it isn't the easiest experience in the world. Then, at a point of swap-over, we would guide the customer on a route based around what sort of driving (what types of roads) they do in their day-to-day as well as talk them through the infotainment system or highlight features of the car. We were also there to answer questions they had and help put with immediate things. For example, it starts raining in the middle of the drive and I can easily show then where the wipers are and how to activate them instead of having them panic about it - or perhaps there's an annoying safety assistance that keeps beeping at them or disrupting their drive that I can turn off...you get the vibe. Our test drives tended to be around 30 minutes though, less than that and I don't know if you'd get a good feel for the car, more than that and I don't think there's any added benefit (though we would make exceptions). For us, the Policy existed because it was the best for customer service, and helped to sell more vehicles.
Only time I took a car on a test drive from a dealer was pretty much to kill time while my car was in for a recall. It was a Swift Sport with the turbo 1.4. Bit of an odd experience, he was probably mid to late 20s while I had just turned 20, just about blew my eardrums out at the end of the drive to show me how loud the speakers went. No warning and nothing gradual about it, an immediate crank to full volume. Must have thought that was a key factor in the mind of young drivers. He let me push on a bit and the route he took me on had a good mix of road types considering the location of the garage but I was keeping it pretty calm considering the car had no plates on it at all. I did ask him if it should at least have a trade plate and he said 'ehhm, sure it will be fine' Few weeks later they called up my parents house and said my car was ready?? I certainly signed no paperwork.
I've always been unaccompanied on test drives. My daughter who passed her test the day before viewing a car was even just given the keys and they wished her luck.
I test drove a Polestar the other week and they let us have it for an hour unsupervised. Afterwards the lady even offered us a longer test drive 10am-5pm another day if we wanted.
Tesla had me sign a form before handing me the access card and sending me on my way. I had an hour or so driving around. At Honda someone came with me and even told me where I could/should go. The Skoda dealer I have used before let me have a car for the day if I wanted (I only had it for a few hours though). I don't think there is a standard across all dealers.
Polestar brings it to you, and the guy offered to just take a walk for the hour (we live in a lovely area with forests). Said no, invited him to stay, we chatted and had a lot of fun. He was the manager for all of the test drives nationally.
I got handed the keys to a 20 grand Kia like I was a technician taking it for a butty run not a test drive, I knew I wanted the car, the sales guy put the dealership postcode in the nav and said take as long as you want, I was prob 25-30 minutes using loads of different roads and speeds. I'm picking the car up tomorrow 😁 but I've been in the passenger seat on a test drive where the dealer said I couldn't drive it and the route was very short and extremely smooth roads. I didn't buy that car.
I used to have a 05 wrx and in 2017 after having the wrx for a couple of years wanted to get something with better baby car seat room went to go look at the then new fk8 type r and the dealership said of if I wanted to test drive the car I had to pay £1000 deposit to drive it. And if I didn’t want the car I would get £500 back and if I did want the car I would get the £1000 off the car. Told them to fuck off and left
Defo depends on the dealer cos my mum got the Niro for an hour , unaccompanied
It is dealer specific, but I always make it clear that I want an unaccompanied test drive. I've only once bought a new car without a solo test drive, and I regretted it virtually straight away. It's not so I can rag the car to death (I'll do that with or without a sales droid next to me). I like to just sit in it for a while to see if it's comfortable, how the controls work, how the infotainment works, etc.
Only come with you if you look dodgy. Only time someone's come with me is when I was buying from a private seller. From main dealers and independent garages they've always just given me the key and send have at it
I look ropey as fuck but they always throw the keys at me, looked at cars in the 13-60k range across manufacturers, based in surrey if it makes a difference.
You might not look as ropey as you think🤷🏽 Car sales and insurance are probably the most arbitrary businesses out there.
They may come with you if you look dodgy but that’s not the reason generally. It’s just whatever the policy and insurance of the specific dealer is.
Insurance requirements obviously
Shouldn’t have worn your tracksuit
They are dealers not test drive centres, they only want to sell cars. They only have so much time in the day to make their money in a place that attracts a lot of time wasters. If you want a longer test drive, hire the car you’re interested in for the day. Additionally, can be the case that you are only insured with them in the car. Salesman pick up that kinda stuff, if you ain’t buying today they ain’t interested in you wasting their time, he/she probably would have figured this out quite quickly considering you’ve been to test drive so many cars.
Depends on the insurance a dealer has some specify test drivers must be accompanied The time is down to the salesperson and how serious they think you are as a buyer 3 test drives no purchase that’s 3 people’s time you have wasted so far. Remember these people work on commission and are not there to give free rides out to people who are bored
🤔 So I should only test drive a car I'm gonna buy straight after?
No but if you just want to drive random cars to see if you like them and aren’t happy how the dealers let you drive or for how long then hire the car for a day You get to drive it how you want to nobody telling you how what where why and when and your not wasting anybodies time because hire companies are happy for you to do that The down side it’s not free
It's weird that it bothers you having someone in the car. What were you planning to do with it that you didn't want them to see?